Storms of Gohda
by Reis Nailo
Summary: The Tatsumaki Myoji have held high regards in Gohda's clan of ninja.  How will their best fair against the new threat to Gohda?
1. Prologue

**Tenchu: Storms of Gohda**

**Disclaimer: Rikimaru, Ayame, Gohda and other significant people and places already in the Tenchu world are not mine. Everything else is though.**

**Prologue**

"This sake's quite good isn't it?"

The two men in the small private room laughed in good spirits. Their serving girl fled the room as one of them tried for a feel. Five bottles of the sharp, clear stuff lay empty on the low table. A sixth sat half empty beside an impressive spread of nigiri and maki sushi rolls.

Both men were fairly built, maybe even handsome to some young women, but each was rotten to the core. The shorter of the two with an eye for women took another drink. The more muscular of them took another wolfish bit out of a rice ball.

"Well do ya think we can get the kodama leaves past the next checkpoint?"

"Don't worry about it. We're three days ahead of schedule and we'll just pay of the guards if they get suspicious. Let's relax tonight and then head out in the morning."

As the two men continued their partying, a pair of socked feet made their way to their room. The young woman kneeled at the shogi, announcing her presence to the men inside. The smaller man walked to the door, expecting another bottle of sake. Instead a sharp gasp escaped his lips as a razor sharp pain pierced his chest. A gleaming blade glinted through the paper door before twisting; rending his heart in the process and retreating back through the door.

As the woman twisted her blade to kill the man, the real serving girl rounded the corner. Her scream never left her lips as a hand covered her face with a scented cloth. Muffled cries of distress and fear died into unconsciousness. The assassin turned from the door as she pulled the sword from the shogi.

The first target's body fell through as his friend yelled in shock. She sheathed her sword and took the unconscious girl from her partner's arms as he stepped toward the room. He gripped the katana at his side as he approached the remaining shogi.

His prey kicked the remnants of the door down as he came to the room. The ring of his sword sang out as he slashed upward, cleaving the man's leg in two at the knee. The force of the blow lifted the man into the air. Their eyes met for an instant before the assassin plunged the weapon down in the falling thrust; pinning him to the floor. A swift twist of the sword finished the man.

Pulling the sword from his body, he drew a white cloth from his kimono and ran it across the blade, wiping it clean of blood. Letting the fabric fall from his hand, he then sheathed the sword and retrieved a note and kunai from his sleeve, pegging the note to the door post with the small weapon. Hearing rapid footsteps approaching, he dashed to the nearby stone wall and vaulted off of it and onto the tiled roof.

Turning in place, his partner waved him over to her across the building. Screams of women and cursing of men could be heard over their silent foot falls as they dashed off into the night, another mission successful.

Two Shadows of Gohda, more specifically of the Tatsumaki Myoji, had struck silent justice for Goda.

_The Shadows of Gohda . . . ninjas pledged to serve Lord Gohda under the command of Rikimaru were feared and respected in their arts. Unknown to most outside the clan and Lord Gohda himself were that several families within the clan held certain techniques to themselves. This kept the power of the Gohda Ninja distinct, and well preserved._

_The Tatsumaki Myoji, or the Tornado Family of the Gohda Ninja held high prestige within the clan. The first head of the family, Gyobu Zansaku had thought of a style specializing in the concept of one against many; a situation that all shinobi feared._

_During the invasion of Gohda, when Rikimaru took over leadership of the clan after Tatsumaru's death, the Tatsumaki Myoji held the village secure as others were ordered out into the country. It was a great honor to be entrusted with the safety of the Clan Village. Two of Lord Mei-Oh's military units managed to find the Ninja village, but none made it inside its walls, nor did any leave alive._

_Upon the clan's return, eight members of the Tatsumaki Myoji were being buried in their cemetery. Eighty bodies in two piles of forty burned like bonfires in the distance. There had been thirty shinobi defending the village for that battle. Among those thirty members were the twin great grandchildren of Zansaku; Usugurai Yuki and her brother Kanashii Yugure. It was said by witnesses that their blades had claimed the most blood in the fighting. Since then, the words of the siblings have carried substantial weight for their youth._

_A few years later, during the clan's encounter with the shinobi Shigi, the Tatsumaki Twins lost a close cousin when a Kagami Myoji kunoichi tried to rescue him from the enemy. Ever since the family has claimed a personal vendetta against him and the clan he claims allegiance with._

_Now, during their relative peace, the siblings go about their nights hunting wretches within Gohda. Their message of Tenchu left with the corpses of their targets._

**Glossary of Names and Terms**

**Tatsumaki: Tornado**

**Myoji: Family**

**Usugurai Yuki: Dark Snow**

**Kanashii Yugure: Sorrowful Nightfall**

**Kagami: Mirror**

**Shinobi: roughly translates as ninja, though for this fic, my shinobi will represent both male and female genders.**

**Kunoichi: FEMALE ninja . . . I will use this term to specifically point out gender differences when needed.**


	2. Twins of Gohda

**Tenchu: Storms of Gohda**

**Disclaimer: Rikimaru, Ayame, Gohda and other significant people and places already in the Tenchu world are not mine. Everything else is though.**

**Chapter 1: Twins of Gohda**

A young woman walked pleasantly through the outdoor hallway of her home. The summer breeze was rather cool for the time of day and it pleased her greatly. Despite her name summer was her favorite season. Approaching her brother's room, she was surprised to find its doors open and the space vacant. She placed two fingers to her lips in thought.

"Kyodai?"

"Looking for your brother?"

The younger woman jumped in surprised and colored before turning to face the older woman. Her elder grinned at her fondly. For her age, her grandmother had progressed beautifully.

"Oh! Haru-Obasan! I was going to wake him up if he wasn't already. I mean really . . . he sleeps too late into the day. Otousan can't teach all our pupils alone."

Footsteps coming toward them made the two women turn to face the western hallway as two men came around the corner. The first was older, clean shaven with a rough but amiable face and slightly graying hair. He held a reed between his teeth which could be seen through a broad smile. He wore a deep green hakama tied by a black sash. An ivory white haori fit loosely over a cream colored gi.

He let a pleased eye trace over his daughter before bowing slightly, acknowledging her presence. She returned the bow with a deeper one in deference to his position as head of the house. Her grandmother followed suit, though not as deep.

The man accompanying him bowed equal depth to her and then again deeper to their grandmother. He was adorned in a deep blue hakama that remained loose and unbound around the hem unlike his father's. Gold embroidering along the hem was dusty from training and his haori matched the hakama in design and color. His gi was solid sky blue in coloration.

Unlike all other ninja, he wore a traditional katana at his waist, the blade having proven itself under its master's deft hands during the attempted invasion of Mei-Oh's forces. The kodachi accompanying the blade had also proven itself during the same battle. He was one of the only members of the Gohda ninja who didn't prefer the stealth cloak and dagger operations like the rest of the clan.

Light hazel eyes met her dark chocolate brown irises and they shared a smile at the same moment. The grandmother and father smirked, such was the enigma, and one of the many wonders of twins.

"Yuki, Haru-Obasan . . . ohayo."

"Ohayo Yugure, how was training?"

The father and son looked at each other a moment, and then shook their heads in frustration. The year's group of students was cocky and more than slightly full of themselves. So far nothing too serious had occurred, but the past week had seen one of the young men suffer a broken leg during weapons sparring with their father. The frowns of the men told Yuki and Haru that this morning's session hadn't fared much better.

"Would you like to talk about it over breakfast?"

"What's for breakfast?"

"How does rice with miso soup, broiled salmon, with fresh daikon sound. Oh and berries from the vineyards!"

The two men nodded in approval before letting the women leave to prepare the meal. Yugure knelt before the small memorial shrine he'd set up in his room. They had a larger one in the family room for their mother, but this was far more personal.

Once he'd finished his praying he swiftly proceeded to the bath house to rinse off the grime from training earlier. After cleansing himself, he took some time to clean the swords he possessed, starting with the kodachi. Its blade measured about four and a half inches shorter than his katana, but retained a handle the exact measurements of the full sword. It was a unique weapon he received from a friend long ago.

By the time he had finished and sheathed the 'Shield Sword' one of the attendants of the house brought word that the food was done. As he walked from his quarters to the dining room, a lavender and lilac clad kunoichi leapt by as she bounded from rooftop to rooftop. Only a brief nod of greeting and parting conveyed their whole conversation.

_Hello . . . another mission . . . I'm leaving . . . good fortune . . . and see you again._

Yugure had heard several tales about Ayame, the kunoichi with a destiny as large as Rikimaru's. She was also one of the few shinobi to wield dual weapons as opposed to a single primary weapon.

Several other lesser and more talented members of the clan walked about the grounds. Before he could reach for the shogi to the dining room, a five point shuriken embedded itself into the doorpost. Inside its hollowed center a small scrap of parchment caught his eyes. Squinting at the ominous message, he plucked the small projectile from the wood. The color of the paper was crimson, signifying an assassination level secrecy assignment. The last assignment that they had received like that had been over a week ago.

Tucking the two objects into his sleeves he opened the door to join his family. The note could wait until breakfast was done. His sister was finishing pouring their father a cup of tea as Yugure took his seat at the floor table. Walking over to him she poured him a cup of the hot liquid as well. Two smiles were exchanged, one in thanks and the other in loving pleasure. Taking her seat, she uncovered the pot holding the steaming rice; the sweet scent made their mouths water.

After serving out portions to her father, brother, and herself in that order, their father prayed to the gods for the day before lifting his chopsticks. Yugure started with his soup. Once each had received a second portion of rice and fish, Yuki set down her chopsticks and looked to her brother and then to her father.

"So Tousan, what was so disappointing at this morning's training?"

The two men stopped eating and set down their eating utensils. Their father, Ukyo Tenkaku had trained Yugure in open sword combat rather than stealth combat, though that said nothing about his ability to do so. Rikimaru and Lord Gohda admitted that far too many good shinobi were lost due to the lack of training in broad open combat with multiple opponents. It was an honor to teach the future generations to increase their survivability; but it was proving to be an arduous task.

"Kitsune no Kaze."

Yuki frowned, not knowing the significance of the name.

"I'm sorry Father?"

"Kitsune no Kaze, Fox of the Wind as he posses himself after. He has been boasting about his stealth capability and claims that he is above learning open combat. During training this morning he challenged your brother to one on one combat with a blindfold to handicap Yugure. Your brother obliged and put a blindfold on. Then he bested the fool with one strike with the short practice blade."

Yuki laughed healthily at her twin's annoyed expression. He rolled his eyes in remembrance. A single cross parry followed immediately by a basic return cut had caught the boy in the temple and knocked him cold. If he hadn't checked the blow the damage could have killed the idiot. Despite his frustration, Yugure was glad that his sister got a good laugh out of it.

"I'm not surprised Otousan, kyodai spars with me and several other clan members blindfolded on a daily basis to increase his awareness since he isn't as good in cloak and dagger operations like me. I feel sorry for anyone who thinks my brother can't fight in the open."

Yugure took a long drink of his tea to hide his slight embarrassment. There was nothing malicious in her words. It was true he wasn't as good at remaining perfectly silent, but her praise of his combat prowess and dedication to improving was something he hadn't quite gotten used to after all the years.

"More tea kyodai?"

Her simple question prompted a slightly hasty shake of his head. Apologizing for his abrupt refusal, he took the throwing star and crimson note from his sleeve. The cheery atmosphere grew cold as the other two noticed the color of the paper. All business was taken seriously by the Tatsumaki Myoji, but the red colored mission notes were never fooled with.

All three present knew that any mission had the potential to turn extremely dangerous. Red –or worse yet, black- mission notes guaranteed life risking and possible death. The last person who had gotten careless about the seriousness of the notes had been brutally killed along with two others who had been assigned the same mission. A single mission had taken three ninjas lives. The undertaker squad assigned the mission barely made it to their bodies in time.

"I wondered why you paused before entering Yugure. Go ahead, open it."

Unfolding the scarlet letter, the fine calligraphy inside told him that someone from the Kagami Myoji had been charged with writing the note.

_Kanashii Yugure and Usugurai Yuki no Tatsumaki Myoji_

_The recent disappearance of Gohda noble Isshun Tatsuda has Lord Gohda worried. He is our Lord's tactical mastermind and a key member of his advising council. He was last seen in the Haru-Sakura prefecture. We wish you fortune. Preemptive force against outsiders and black sheep is permitted. Civilians are not to be caught in the fray._

_Kagami Myoji_

Folding the note back up, the family digested the news. Ukyo had seen Isshun once and had been decently impressed with the man. The Haru-Sakura section of Gohda was renowned for their fantastic inns, delicious food, and honored festivals.

The two siblings stood from the table and looked to their father Ukyo. They remained steadfast in his confidence as an advisor on the battlefield and loving parent when not in battle. Ever since their mother passed away giving birth to them, he had spent much of his time raising them. For that, they held him in the highest respect and love, and valued his words most of all.

"Go and prepare, pack lightly, but mindfully. It is summer so keep your day clothes light in both weight and color, as is appropriate. Only your work clothes should be dark. Take no poisons; summer tends to bode ill for such methods. Clean your blades every night, the humidity will ruin them if you don't. As always, stay alert. I wish you both well."

The twins bowed deeply before leaving the room. Haru entered after their departure.

"They have another assignment?"

Ukyo nodded before coughing heavily. Looking to the shrine dedicated to his wife, he smiled. He had raised them well and he was quite certain she would have approved.

"They do. I hope they return safe and successful."

The grandmother simply smiled. They were the Twins of Gohda, their success was most assured.

**Glossary of Names and Terms**

**Ukyo Tenkaku: Yuki and Yugure's father and open sword combat teacher of Gohda's shinobi.**

**Haru Obasan: Grandmother Spring, Yuki and Yugure's grandmother on their mother's side of the family.**

**Isshun Tatsuda: A tactical mastermind in Gohda whose loyalty in unquestionable to Gohda.**

**Haru-Sakura: The Spring Cherry Blossom section of the country of Gohda well respected for their tourist area and is a frequent getaway location for many of Gohda's citizenry. It is also a 'pure' district as there is no 'Red Light' section.**


End file.
